(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Florida Democrats declare it’s a ‘new day’ as they convene in Miami Beach [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- July'] Date: 2023-07-09 Coming off the trainwreck of the 2022 election, Florida Democrats gathered by the hundreds at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach hotel this weekend to rally going into the 2024 election cycle under the direction of new party chair Nikki Fried. It was Fried’s decision to bypass the traditional choice of an elected official to keynote the party’s annual summer conference and instead selected actor Bradley Whitford to do the honors. The 63-year-old Wisconsin progressive is best known for his roles on television shows like “The West Wing” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” He said that while Hollywood may espouse virtues that Florida Democrats could be proud of, they could actually learn something from the GOP. The radical right has understood the fundamental truth that politics is the way we create our moral vision. – Bradley Whitford “The radical right has understood the fundamental truth that politics is the way we create our moral vision,” he said. “Too often we on the left, we progressives we … assume that culture alone will suffice. It will not. ‘The West Wing’ didn’t help you if you had a pre-existing condition. We had to pass a law. ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is a big hit but it won’t help you if you’re a 13-year rape victim in Ohio. That girl needed us to elect representatives who were capable of appointing a sane and humane judiciary.” Ron DeSantis was a frequent punchline for many of the speakers at the Leadership Blue event, but Whitford took particular relish in attacking the Florida governor and now presidential contender. “Ron DeSantis is a f—— coward,” he declared as the crowd heartily cheered. “He’s afraid of history. He’s afraid of people loving each other. He’s afraid of people who are different from him. He’s afraid of Donald Trump — that’s right, ‘Top Gov’ is a bit of a bottom,” eliciting howls of laughter in an allusion to DeSantis’ 2022 ad called “Top Gov” that depicted him as Tom Cruise in the “Top Gun” film. Whitford went on. “He’s afraid of liberty. He’s afraid of the pursuit of happiness. He’s afraid of people voting. He’s afraid of science. He’s afraid of the gun lobby. Apparently, he’s even afraid of Mickey Mouse.” Whitford went on to call DeSantis “obscene” for a variety of actions: “Attacking LGBTQ communities is obscene. Treating our delicate planet with contempt was obscene. … Disenfranchising voters is obscene. Banning books is obscene. Pretending that the biggest threats to children are drag shows, when the number one cause of death for children is guns, is obscene.” Speaking of drag shows, the evening’s entertainment ended with a real live drag show, prompting Republican Party of Florida Chair Christian Ziegler to tweet after, “Any children in attendance?” (There didn’t appear to be, for the record). ‘Not on our f—— watch’ The evening had kicked into high gear with a 70-second ad depicting broadcast news reports and DeSantis’ own voice declaring the Florida Democratic Party essentially extinct following their wipeout in last year’s election, before words spelled out, “Not On Our F—— Watch,” which thrilled the audience. While the key word throughout the day expressed by Democrats was “hope,” whether they’re ready to rebound from the ’22 cycle that saw DeSantis defeat Democrat Charlie Crist by 19 points and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio beat Val Demings by 16 points, wasn’t clear. Fried insists those margins were as large as they were because most Democrats stayed home in November, saying DeSantis didn’t really win by 19 percentage points over Democrat Charie Crist — “Florida Democrats lost by 19 points. And that is really on us,” she says. And while Democrat Donna Deegan’s upset victory in the Jacksonville’s mayoral election in May has buoyed Democrats that happier days lie ahead, Republicans continue to increase their numbers in the state and now have a nearly 500,000 registered-voter edge over Democrats, the most in the history of the state. Combined with last year’s election cycle, concerns persist that the national Democratic Party has written the state off for 2024, as it did in 2022. That won’t happen, Fried insists. “The DNC is present here this weekend,” she said during a press conference on Saturday afternoon. “I had numerous conversations with [DNC Chair] Jamie Harrison as well as my counterparts across the country, national DNC finance chair, as well as the Biden victory campaign, and Rick Scott is a top priority to take down. And that is coming directly from the top of leadership. So national Democrats are here, our national donors are here, and they are part of this rebuild. This is truly all of us marching in the same direction.” While Democrats around the Fontainebleau were enjoying DeSantis’ struggles in polls in the early voting states and nationally, the governor has also been dealt a series of losses in the courts on controversial laws passed this year, including a bill that threatens serious penalties against venues that expose children to “lewd” performances; blocks on gender affirming care for minors; crackdowns on voter registration groups; and bans on adults’ access to care under Medicaid for transgender treatment. “I think that there’s a lot of hope coming from this event,” said former Orange County Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, running for the state Senate next year. “Democrats are inspired. They’re inspired not only by the leadership of the party with Nikki Fried, but they’re also inspired by these monumental gains that we made in Jacksonville and they’re inspired by the fact that Gov. Ron DeSantis is losing the culture wars. “He’s losing them in court consistently on nearly every issue, and he’s losing them out in the campaign trail. The rest of the country is finally opening their eyes with what we have been struggling with for many years, which is an authoritarian, an extremist governor who’s willing to do anything in order to gain more power and raise his political profile,” Smith added. ‘Breath of fresh air’ Fried received praise from many Democrats throughout Saturday. “She’s a breath of fresh air,” said Terrie Rizzo, who served as party chair from 2017 to 2020. “She’s brought in new ideas, new people. She’s reaching out on every single level. She brings a lot to the table.” One thing that didn’t emerge out of this weekend for the Democrats was a name or names of major Democrats prepared to challenge Scott, Florida’s junior Republican U.S. senator, next year. Fried promised that those candidates will emerge soon. “We are all having those conversations because we understand how important this election is, not just for the state of Florida to get a statewide-elected Democrat, but also to change the power up in D.C.,” she said. One name prominently whispered among some Democrats as a potential candidate is former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, now working with the gun-control group Giffords. Another Democrat considering the Senate race is Brevard County School Board member Jennifer Jenkins. She said she took hope out of the fact that DeSantis has struggled in the early going in the GOP presidential campaign and suggested he was actually doing a “service” for Florida Democrats. “I think that the extremism of his politics and his agenda are highlighted when he’s removed out of his safe space of Florida, where his base supports him and his Legislature supports him,” she said. “If he had run out on his primary run and he’s like slam-dunking it? We would have had trouble here as Democrats. But I think he’s doing a good job for us.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/07/09/florida-democrats-declare-its-a-new-day-as-they-convene-in-miami-beach/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/